


Choose your Own Adventure

by orphan_account



Series: Choose Your Own Adventure [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Choose Your Own Adventure
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-15
Updated: 2019-09-15
Packaged: 2020-10-19 02:06:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,385
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20649434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: A choose your own adventure fic, less wippy than it was. If you want a Gryffindor he/him adventure, you're in luck because I've written quite a bit for him! If you're someone else there's still some. Don't worry, you don't actually have to read however many thousand words, but I do have to write however many thousand words so appreciate me. Still being updated.





	Choose your Own Adventure

CHAPTER ONE

So, we might as well do all this in one. Tell me about yourself:

He/him Gryffindor  
He/him Hufflepuff  
He/him Slytherin  
He/him Ravenclaw  
They/them Gryffindor  
They/them Hufflepuff  
They/them Slytherin  
They/them Ravenclaw  
She/her Gryffindor  
She/her Hufflepuff  
She/her Slytherin  
She/her Ravenclaw

MEET NICHOLAS

Right, now we've whittled it down to just you.  
Your name is Nicholas Dedworth, the son of Julie Dedworth, a muggle-born Ravenclaw witch, and Shawn Dedworth, a pure-blood Gryffindor wizard. You also have an older brother, Simon, who is in Slytherin, but you two don't get on well.  
You may not be very smart, but you've been able to fly on a broom for longer than you've been able to talk, and it's your fondest desire to some day become a great beater for the Kenmare Kestrels.  
A few weeks ago you went to Diagon Alley to get your school supplies, and came away with your wand. It's a chestnut wand with a unicorn tail hair core, 11 1/2 inches long, rather bendy. Your father was very proud of you; his wand is chestnut wood too, with a phoenix feather core. He suggested it might mean you're looking to a career in magical law enforcement like him, but you hope not. You love your wand anyway and can't wait to learn magic with it.  
Today is the first of September, your first day of school. You can tell your parents are trying not to cry as you hug them goodbye, but you can't feel happier. You do love your parents and you will miss them, but Hogwarts is just so exciting, and you can't wait to get to a place where you can avoid your brother, or at least punch him without your parents finding out.  
You hop onto the train, having already lost sight of Simon. You don't mind, that's the way you like it, and actually you were a bit worried that he might want to show you around, or 'look after you'. All the compartments you can see are full, apart from two: one that just has a black-haired boy who is staring out the window, and one that has two boys arguing heatedly over something. Which compartment do you choose?

The one with one boy  
The one with two boys

Back to chapter one

MEET JACOB

Right, now we've whittled it down to just you.  
Your name is Jacob Robinson, the son of Maria and Jesse Robinson, both muggles. You have one younger sister, called Megan, who is six. You've tried to explain to her that just because you're a wizard doesn't mean that she's a witch, but she doesn't seem to understand. You're not looking forward to the day in five years time when her letter doesn't come.  
You're relieved you don't have to start senior school. You're smart enough, but nobody would know it because you've always hated maths and English and all those muggle subjects and even put some effort into doing badly when they annoyed you enough. The only thing you'll miss about the muggle world, apart from your family of course, are your best friends, Derrick and Craig.  
A few weeks ago Professor McGonagall came to your home to tell you you were a wizard, and to take you to Diagon Alley. You believed her right away, but it took her over an hour to convince your parents. At Diagon Alley, you got your first magic wand. It's a red oak wand with a phoenix tail feather core, 9 3/4 inches long, quite rigid. You don't know what any of that means, really, you didn't even know that oak could be red, but you know when combined they make a wand that seems to match your very soul.  
Today is the first of September, your first day of school. You'd been looking forward to this day for months, and yet... as you hug your parents goodbye you all share a few tears, at half a year apart. Only Meg is excited, bouncing up and down and making you promise to write to her every day, however many times you've already told her you will.  
You hop onto the train, waving out of the open door window at the shining face of your little sister, still beaming, and thinking about how much you'll miss her. The train steadily chugs away from the station, and the faces of your family blend into the crowd and then speed away as you approach your new life. You wipe away a tear, but you're still beaming. It'd be hard not to, this is just so exciting! You can only see two compartments with any room in: one has two boys, one of whom is loudly telling the other about Hogwarts, and the other has a shy-looking girl with sandy hair sitting alone. In which do you sit?

The one with two boys  
The one with one girl

Back to chapter one

MEET GEORGE

Right, now we've whittled it down to just you.  
Your name is George Travers, the son of Atalanta Travers, a pure-blood witch from Greece, and Donald Travers, a likewise pure-blood Slytherin wizard. You have three older sisters: Pasiphae, Penelope and Psyche. Pasiphae is the oldest, and in her sixth year at Hogwarts. She's never had that much time for you, always too busy working to care about her kid brother. Plus, being a boy, you're set to inherit all the titles and money that come with your prestigious name, titles and money she thinks should be hers. Penelope is your favorite sister, and is in third year. Everyone thinks she's a really nice sweet kid, but you know she's actually a lot of fun and has taught you all her best tricks. Psyche is the youngest girl, and only one year above you, and the only person in the family that isn't a Slytherin. She's a Ravenclaw, and she's too smart for her own good in your opinion, and she corrects you on everything you say.  
You're smart too, you and all your siblings inherited it from your mother, but you're the least smart. By your age your sisters were already doing arithmancy, or learning advanced potions, or writing in ancient runes. All you can do is pass your exams. You hope.  
Your father had wanted to give you an old family wand but your mother put her foot down, saying that if you want half-decent wandwork you have to have your own wand, and then something very rude in Greek that your father couldn't understand but you could. Over the holidays your family went to Greece as you do sometimes, and your mother took you to see Ajax Cephalopos, who she claimed to be the best wandmaker in all the world. He gave you a wand made of olive wood, with griffon feather core and 12 inches long. Your mother says you're going to have the best wand in the whole school.  
Today is the first of September, your first day of school. Your mother is crying, but you don't think she really means it. She loves her daughters, but has always treated you with some suspicion, similar to the way she treats your father. He, in turn, is showing no emotion as always, no more than a stiff handshake and a pat on the back, more to say 'off you go, now, boy' than anything. You won't miss them.  
You hop onto the train, looking around. Psyche has already dispersed, and Pasiphae leaves after muttering something about having to go to the prefect's carriage. Penelope tries to drag you to meet her friends, but you shake her off. You can't hang around with some third year girls for the next five years, you're going to have to make some friends of your own. You can only see two compartments that aren't full: one has a boy with white-blond hair accompanied by two boys who you think might actually be trolls in disguise, and the other has a boy you recognise as Theodore Nott, the son of one of your father's friends. Who do you sit with?

The three boys  
Theodore Nott

Back to chapter one

MEET ERIK

Right, now we've whittled it down to just you.  
Your name is Erik Graves, the son of Monica Graves, a Hufflepuff witch, and Keith Graves, a muggle builder. You don't have any brothers or sisters.  
You've always been very smart, and have been helping your mother with potions since you were small. Ever since you've got your wand too you've been practicing spells, and you think you've gotten a grip on quite a few.  
Your wand came from Ollivander's (of course, doesn't everybody's?), and is made of maple wood, with a dragon heartstring core, 10 inches precisely and medium rigidity. You're excited, you've been reading up a lot on wands before you got one and maple sounds like one of the best woods.  
Today is the first of September, your first day of school. Your parents are sad to see you go, of course, but you're too excited to be sad, and in fact you manage to extricate yourself from them earlier than they'd like to get a good seat on the train. There's still fifteen minutes to go before the train leaves but you can use that time practicing more spells, and you can't bear the thought of having almost no choice who you sit next to.  
The car you're in (they're not called carriages on trains they're actually called cars) only has one person sitting on it so far: a nervous looking mousy-haired boy who is struggling to get his trunk into the overhead compartment. You do feel sorry for him, but your idea of the friends you're going to make are a little more exciting than a boy who can't even handle his own luggage. Where do you go?

To help the boy  
To an empty compartment (where he can't see you not helping him)

Back to chapter one

MEET CHARLIE

Right, now we've whittled it down to just you.

Your name is Charlie Montague, the child of Amber Montague, a pure-blood Hufflepuff witch, and Wolfgang Montague, a pure-blood Slytherin wizard. You don't have any brothers or sisters.  
You're not the smartest kid, but you've always been really adventurous. You can't count the number of times your parents have had to wingardium leviosa you out of a tree because you can't get down. They quickly refused to buy you any clothes worth more then £5 because they'd only last a week, after the incident with the new shirt and the chocolate fountain.  
A few weeks ago you went to Diagon Alley to get your school supplies, and came away with your wand. It's spruce wood with a phoenix feather core, 9 1/4 inches and very flexible. You whip it around your head the first time you hold it and an unusual array of multi-coloured sparks fly out of the end, setting a small part of Mr Ollivander's curtains on fire. He puts it out almost lazily, though; you figure he must encounter unruly spell-casting a lot.  
Today is the first of September, your first day of school. You hug your parents goodbye and notice they're not crying. They'll miss you, of course they will, but they've known you for eleven years now and they know you can look after yourself. You'll miss them too, but likewise you know you can survive without them.  
You hop onto the train, still waving happily out of the window. As the train steams away, you notice that only two of the compartments have any room in them. One has a black-haired boy in, looking lazily out at the views, and the other contains two boys having a heated argument. Who do you sit with?

The black-haired boy  
The arguing boys

Back to chapter one

MEET JAMIE

Right, now we've whittled it down to just you.

Your name is Jamie Hudson, the child of Erica Hudson, a pure-blood Gryffindor witch, and Marcus Hudson, a muggle-born Hufflepuff wizard. You have an older sister, Sara, and a younger brother, Jeffrey. Sara is just starting fourth year, and she is everything you want to be. In your mind she's the most popular girl in school and always top of her class, even if that isn't necessarily true. Jeffrey is a year younger than you, and the bane of your life. You can't bring a friend home without him getting in the way or demanding you play one of his games. You can't wait to get away from him for a year.  
You've always been popular, and you're friends with almost everyone you know. However, anyone you don't like had better watch out, because you hate as easily as you love and are fiercely protective of those closest to you.  
A few weeks ago you went to Diagon Alley to get your school supplies, and came away with your wand. It's a mahogany wand with a dragon heartstring core, 10 1/4 inches and of unyielding flexibility. You can't remember ever seeing a wand that looks this impressive, either, and you're particularly proud of it's core. Your sister always joked that you had a heart of a dragon.  
Today is the first of September, your first day of school. This should be your important day, but Jeffrey's ruining it as usual by throwing a tantrum on the platform, even though really he should be a bit old for that sort of thing. Your parents hardly notice you go, what with him crying about wanting to go to Hogwarts too. Sara leads you onto the train after a brief goodbye. You don't even want to look out the window at them, anger at your little brother is boiling inside of you, and you can't shake the feeling he's ruined what should have been an amazing day.  
All the compartments you can see are full, except for two: one with a mousy-haired girl who looks very bored, and another with a boy loudly introducing himself to another boy. Who do you sit with?

The girl  
The two boys

Back to chapter one

MEET SAM

Right, now we've whittled it down to just you.

Your name is Sam Sheppard, the child of Stephanie Sheppard, a pure-blood Slytherin witch, and Matthew Sheppard, a muggle lawyer. You have a twin brother, Robert, and you're very close. You're sure you're going to be in the same house, and you've been almost inseparable your whole lives.  
You've always been very ambitious. You remember when you were about 5 announcing proudly that in a year you were going to make a million pounds by selling the best wands in the world, which were actually twigs you'd found in the garden. Your ideas might have changed a little since then, but your aims - and, indeed, honesty - haven't.  
A few weeks ago you went to Diagon Alley to get your school supplies, and came away with your wand. It's a hornbeam wand with a unicorn tail hair, 11 inches and with almost no flexibility. It's very nearly identical to your brother's, except his is made of vine wood. They even look pretty similar, which Ollivander assures you has nothing to do with any properties but you know better.  
Today is the first of September, your first day of school. You're glad you've got Rob to share this with, you can see all the only children waving goodbye to their parents to get on a train, alone, full of unfamiliar faces. You're even glad you had someone to push your trolley with, it looked pretty scary doing it alone, not that you'd ever admit that. On the platform, your father gives you a speech he'd already given yesterday, and on the journey up (just his way of showing he's worried about you) saying, 'I may not know anything about magic, but I do know about people, and you two've got to be tough,' etc, etc. Your mother seemed uncharacteristically worried too, and she kept telling you to look after each other and stand up for yourselves.  
You and Robert go onto the train and look for somewhere to sit, but there are only two empty compartments you can see. One has a boy with white-blond hair, who from what your mother said might be Draco Malfoy, and two large menacing boys. The other has a girl with a dark bob playing with a black cat. Robert, as always, seems unable to decide. Who do you sit with?

Malfoy and the two other boys  
The girl and the cat

Back to chapter one

MEET ALEX

Right, now we've whittled it down to just you.

Your name is Alex Davison, the child of Amy Davison, a muggle teacher, and John Davison, a muggle carpenter. You are an only child.  
You're very smart and always have been but you've never been particularly hard-working, although that never seemed to matter. You can get top grades with a minimal scraping of revision. You've never been very popular, though, and you're quick to make an enemy of, even if you don't show it.  
A few weeks ago you went to Diagon Alley to get your school supplies, and came away with your wand. It's a fir wand with a dragon heartstring core, 9 1/2 inches and of unyielding flexibility. You marvel at the trail of red sparks that come from it as you wave it over your head, the first bit of magic you'd ever preformed, really. You listened to Ollivander intently as he told you about all the different parts of wandlore. You thought it sounded fascinating.  
Today is the first of September, your first day of school. Your mum cries as you hug her goodbye, even if she's trying not to. Your father doesn't cry, although it seems like he can't trust himself to speak either. He pulls you into a big bear hug and holds your mum as they watch you board the train, away from your muggle life and off to a new one.  
You look around, and curse those few more moments you wanted with your parents, now all the compartments are full. Wait, not all: you can see two that have some room. One has two boys laughing loudly about something, and the other has two girls, one of whom is trying to comfort the other, who is crying. Who do you sit with?

The two boys  
The two girls

Back to chapter one

MEET HEATHER

Right, now we've whittled it down to just you.

Your name is Heather Stanley, the daughter of Nicole Stanley, an accountant, and David Stanley, a therapist. You have an older sister, Amanda, who you had always gotten on well with before, but the Hogwarts letter seems to have driven a rift between the two of you. She was looking forward to you going to her senior school, and it can't help that she's intensely jealous that you're the witch in the family.  
You've always been relatively smart, but mostly you're thought of as mischievous. You know, and have done, all the best pranks, even having Amanda join you on some back in the day, despite her being such a goody-two-shoes. _That's_ how persuasive you are.  
A few weeks ago Professor McGonagall came to take you to Diagon Alley, where you got your first wand. It's a dogwood wand, with a phoenix feather core, 10 1/2 inches and quite whippy. You're slightly disappointed; _dogwood_ doesn't sound as romantic as the wand you had imagined, but Ollivander assured you that your wand was capable of great feats of magic.  
Today is the first of September, your first day of school. Your parents are sorry to see you go, but it's not really them you want to say goodbye to. You try to hug Amanda but she pushes you off and says she's going to wait in the car. "Don't worry, dear," your mother said, "it's just a bit of a shock. She'll come round eventually." But you're not so sure.  
Once on the train, and once you've watched your sister disappear through the barrier, you notice that there's only space in two compartments. One has a dark-haired boy looking morosely out the window, and the other has a slightly chubby girl talking excitedly to a pair of twins. Who do you sit with?

The boy  
The three girls

Back to chapter one

MEET JESSICA

Right, now we've whittled it down to just you.

Your name is Jessica Orpington, the daughter of Melissa Orpington, a half-blood Hufflepuff witch, and Christopher Orpington, a pure-blood Ravenclaw wizard. Your mother, however, died during the First Wizarding War at the hands of a Death Eater, and you never knew her. You also have a brother, James, who is two years older than you, and in Ravenclaw.  
You always try to do what's right, and you've been told off more than a few times for protesting against some unjust rule. It can make you a lot of friends, but not usually ones in authority. You may be young, but you know that the law or the rules are not always right, and that sometimes you should follow your heart before you follow anyone else's.  
A few weeks ago you went to Diagon Alley to get your school supplies, and came away with your wand. It's a poplar wand with unicorn heartstring core, 9 inches with some flexibility. You're really proud, and so is your dad. The most famous witch in your family, Evangeline Orpington, Minister for Magic, had a Poplar wand, and she was awesome!  
Today is the first of September, your first day of school. James waves goodbye and has hopped on the train with his friend Josh before you even had time to take in the marvelous platform. After hugging your dad goodbye you join him, but he's already raced off down the train somewhere.  
All the compartments you can see are full, except for two: one with a mousy-haired girl who looks very bored, and another with a boy loudly introducing himself to another boy. Who do you sit with?

The girl  
The two boys

Back to chapter one

MEET JENNIFER

Right, now we've whittled it down to just you.

Your name is Jennifer Beck, the daughter of Sarah Dennis and Daniel Beck, both muggle-born Ravenclaws. Your parents broke up about 9 years ago, and you live with your father, your step-mother Michelle and your half-brother Joseph. You love both Michelle and Joseph, and you're glad you're not living with your mother and her horrible muggle boyfriend Mickey.  
You've always been quite independent and don't like to rely on other people, which can be good but means you don't get along with people well. You've never really been able to see the point of friends, and nobody much wanted to make friends with you anyway, past Joseph.  
A few weeks ago you went to Diagon Alley to get your school supplies, and came away with your wand. It's a pine wood, with a dragon heartstring core, 11 inches and quite firm flexibility. You've already had to hide it to stop Joe from playing with it, although one time you did find him making rainbow coloured sparks in the air. You were quite impressed.  
Today is the first of September, your first day of school. You hug Joe goodbye and he starts to cry, as if he's only just realised what's happening. Michelle is getting a bit teary too, but tries to hide it. Your mum has come along for the day, but luckily she'd left Mickey at home - you're pretty sure he doesn't even know she's a witch. You wish she hadn't come.  
On the train, you look for somewhere to sit, but all the compartments you can see are full. Except for two: one with a boy with white-blond hair and two large menacing boys, and another with a girl with a dark bob playing with a black cat. Who do you sit with?

The three boys  
The girl and the cat

Back to chapter one

MEET ELIZABETH

Right, now we've whittled it down to just you.

Your name is Elizabeth Fenwick-Parks, the daughter of Angela Parks, a muggle doctor, and Jason Fenwick, a Ravenclaw Healer. Your parents met when your father was studying alternative muggle medicine at a hospital in London 15 years ago. You don't have any brothers or sisters, although you do have a cousin, Marcus, who is starting the same year as you. You barely know Marcus, as he lives on the other side of the country, but it's nice to know there'll be a familiar face there.  
You went to muggle junior school on the insistence of your mother, and learnt that you're a bit of a know-it-all. But, as your parents said, there's nothing wrong with that, it just means you know more. You can also find it hard to get on with people, as some people see you as a bit aloof or posh, but your friendliness makes up for that in most cases.  
A few weeks ago you went to Diagon Alley to get your school supplies, and came away with your wand. It's elm wood, with a unicorn tail hair core, 10 3/4 inches and reasonable flexibility. You're a bit disappointed, unicorns always seemed silly to you, however much the girls at school loved them, and you wanted a bit more of an exciting core. But you couldn't say that, because your father's wand also has unicorn tail hair.  
Today is the first of September, your first day of school. You wave to Marcus, who looks much taller than when you last saw him, and he joins you with his mother who you've embarrassingly forgotten the name of. His father, Benji, was a hero of the first wizarding war who was killed when Marcus was just a year old. Your father says he won't tell you about it until you're older.  
You and Marcus go onto the train, sticking together in the sea of new faces but too awkward to talk to one another. You can only see two compartments with enough room for both of you: one with a nervous-looking boy who was trying to pick up the contents of his case that seems to have exploded, and another with two girls, one of whom was crying and being comforted by the other. Which carriage do you suggest to Marcus?

The one with the boy  
The one with the two girls

Back to chapter one

NEW FRIENDS

"Hey, is this compartment free?"  
The boy looks up, almost surprised to see you. Your first thought is how thin he looks, bones are poking through his cheeks, and his oversized shirt and trousers aren't helping. He has bright green eyes obscured by round glasses, and he looks oddly familiar.  
"Yes."  
You sit down opposite. "My name's Nick. Nicholas Dedworth. What's your's?"  
"I'm-" but at that moment he's interrupted by the sound of the compartment door opening. A tall, lanky boy stands there, with bright ginger hair and freckles covering his face. You also notice a smudge of dirt on his nose.  
"Hey, can I join you? There's nowhere else to sit."  
The boy looks to you, waiting for an answer. What do you say?

Of course you can join us.  
Why don't you sit in that compartment opposite?

Back to the last chapter

NEW FRIENDS

"Hey, is this compartment free?"  
The boys look up from their argument, in which one seems to be brandishing a Kenmare Kestrels flyer that the other is looking at with a grudging fascination. In return the other boy is in the process of extracting a maroon and light blue scarf from his overflowing trunk which you vaguely recognise as belonging to a football team (your Grandad loves football, for some reason).  
"Sure," says the one with the Kestrels flyer, "if you settle our argument."  
You sit down opposite, a grin spreading across your face. "Of course. What's it about?"  
The boy stares at you. "Hey, you're Irish too! I'm Seamus. Seamus Finnigan."  
"And I'm Dean Thomas." The other boy stretches out his hand to shake yours.  
"Well, I'm Nicholas - Nick - Dedworth. So, what was this argument about?"  
"Ah, right," Seamus seems to snap out of his joy at finding another Irish person so quickly, "it's about this thing Dean likes. Football. You've heard of it?"  
"Yeah."  
"Right. Well, he says it's better than Quidditch. Which just isn't true. Back me up here, Nick."  
What do you say is better?

Football.  
Quidditch.

Back to the last chapter

NEW FRIENDS

"Hey, is this compartment free?"  
The red-haired boy looks up, seemingly relieved, but the blond boy takes a moment to notice something's wrong. He was talking very loudly and sounded a bit posh and looked very excited. He beams when he catches sight of you.  
"Hello! Come, sit down, plenty of room."  
Probably because you've scared them all away, you think. "Thanks. My name's Jacob, by the way. Jacob Robinson. What's your's?"  
"I'm Ernie. Ernie Macmillan." The posh boy takes your hand and shakes it vigorously, smiling all the while. You think underneath all the loudness and poshness is a genuinely nice guy.  
"And I'm Justin." Justin seemed more morose after that initial flare of hope when you entered. "Ernie's been telling me all about Hogwarts."  
"Justin's a muggle-born." He sounds as though he's talking about a unicorn. "He's got so much to learn, it must be great!"  
Justin looks slightly sick at this, but you actually do feel your hopes rise. You are looking forward to all the things you're going to learn. "I'm a muggle-born too," you tell him.  
You think Ernie looks like he's found a whole secret tribe of unicorns and they're going to make him their leader or something.  
"Wow. Two of you! I just want to tell you everything. Do you know much already?"

I know quite a bit.  
I know barely anything.

Back to the last chapter

NEW FRIENDS

"Hey, is this compartment free?"  
The shy girl looks up as you enter. She has blonde-red hair that curls around her shoulders and smiles nervously at you. "Sure."  
You sit down opposite her. "I'm Jacob. Jacob Robinson."  
"Hi. I'm Susan Bones." You sit in silence for a moment, the mutual awkwardness of two people who don't know each other forced to exchange pleasantries. "So... looking forward to Hogwarts?" she asks.  
"Yeah," you reply, "I'm a muggle-born so I don't know much about it, but it sounds so exciting, from everything I've heard." You grin excitedly, and she giggles back. The tension appears to have been broken.  
At that moment the door slides open and another girl appears at the door. This girl has darker hair and large, brown eyes. You're slightly annoyed at being interrupted, as you and Susan seemed to be getting on well.  
"Hey, can I sit in here with you?"  
Susan and the girl look to you. What do you say?

Yeah, it'd be nice to meet more people  
Actually, there's a compartment next to this one with some room.

Back to the last chapter

NEW FRIENDS

"Hey, is this compartment free?"  
The blond boy looks at you and seems to survey you a little. The gorillas sitting opposite him, however, don't even look up. You notice the difference between them; the blond boy reminds you of stories your mother told you about nymphs, and his friends are very clearly more closely related to trolls. "I suppose so," the blond boy replies pompously, and you sit down next to him. "What's your name?" he asks. He has a languid, drawling voice and yet remains very prim and proper.  
"George Travers." You reply.  
"Travers?" he raises his eyebrows. "Yes, my father knew a Travers. Although he's -" the boy pauses, realising he's already said too much.  
"That's my uncle," you reply quickly, knowing exactly what he meant. Your uncle, Frederick Travers is currently incarcerated in Askaban for being a death eater in the First Wizarding War. You try not to think about him. "What are your names?"  
"Oh, I'm Draco Malfoy, and this is Crabbe and Goyle."  
Either Crabbe or Goyle grunt in recognition, and you wonder if they're capable of independent speech. The name Malfoy rings a bell, you think his father might have worked with yours, or something.  
"So you're pure-blood, right?" Malfoy asks.  
Ah. So it's going to be like that, is it? What do you say?

I am. Are you?  
I am, but I don't think it matters.

Back to the last chapter

NEW FRIENDS

"Hey, is this compartment free?"  
Theodore looks up at you as you enter and nods silently. For a moment you can't remember why you know this dark-haired boy's name, but then you do. About three years ago, your father dragged you to a funeral. His mother's funeral. Of course, your father was just there to secure a business deal with Mr Nott. You'd met Theodore before, vaguely, at a few of your father's 'events' or your mother's parties. He had always seemed very lively and exciting. You haven't seen him since the funeral, but he doesn't seem very lively now.  
As you sit down, Theodore looks up at you. "George, isn't it? George Travers?"  
"Yes. You're Theodore Nott, aren't you?"  
He nods. "I didn't know you were starting Hogwarts this year."  
"Well, I am." You don't want to say that you know exactly when he's starting Hogwarts because your father gave you a list of all the pure-bloods in your year. You barely glanced at the list, but you did notice Theodore's name. It wasn't said, but this was obviously a list of people you are to make friends with, and all others should be ignored. The list is still stuffed in your trunk. "Looking forward to Hogwarts?"  
"I guess." He seems morose. You resist the urge to think, _still_.  
At that moment there's a knock on the door.  
A tall black boy opens it with a smile. Not a friendly smile, more one that a model might use on the catwalk. A false, attractive smile.  
"Can I sit with you?"  
What do you say?

Of course. Sit down.  
I think there's some room in that compartment over there.

Back to the last chapter

NEW FRIENDS

You can't just let him keep struggling like that, it's almost physically painful to watch. You walk over to him and wordlessly help him heave the trunk up onto the luggage rack.  
"Thanks." He's very out of breath, but then so are you a bit.  
You hold out your hand. "Hi. I'm Erik Graves, what's your name?"  
He grasps your hand briefly but lets it go to sink into the compartment chairs. You slide the door shut and sit down too. "Terry. Terry Boot."  
"Nice to meet you Terry. Are you looking forward to Hogwarts?"  
He brightens a bit. "Yeah. I can't wait. I've spent the whole summer reading all my school books. I'm so excited to start learning spells and stuff."  
Actually, you quite like this boy. He seems nice, and a kindred spirit. "Me too. I'm really looking forward to transfiguration, it seems fascinating." Transfiguration had always fascinated you, mainly because your mum was really bad at it, although she always says she just didn't learn it because it was useless in the real world. It's something wholly new and wonderful to learn.  
"I know! But actually I'm really looking forward to astronomy. Nobody speaks about it much, but I love space. I tried to get my dad to buy me a telescope but he bought me a kid's telescope that you can't see _anything_ through. My new one's great."  
For a second he looks as though he's going to get it out, but then he realises that would necessitate getting the trunk back down and up again. You're grateful that he decides against it.  
You hear a knock on the compartment door. There's a very pretty Asian-looking girl there, looking vaguely worried. You open the door.  
"You haven't seen a girl, have you? She's got red hair, it's sort of frizzy-"  
She looks quite distressed. What do you say?

Sorry, we haven't seen her.  
Why don't you wait in here for her?

Back to the last chapter

NEW FRIENDS

You slip into a compartment before the boy sees you and close the door silently, although you're not sure if that's necessary with the racket he's making. You stretch out and relax on your own. You then hear the car door open and someone help the boy, which is nice. You wouldn't really want him to struggle.  
The car slowly fills up, but nobody comes to sit with you. Many of them are older, and are finding their friends to sit with, and they don't want to sit with some first year. It's not until the car is really quite full that someone knocks on your door.  
"Hey. Can we sit in here?"  
There's two boys standing there. One's black, with long brown hair, and the other has short blond hair. They're both smiling in a friendly manner. It seems churlish not to let them in, and besides, you can't see anywhere else they could sit. "Sure."  
They both scramble in and swing their trunks onto the luggage racks. They seem quite relieved that they've found a compartment.  
"This car's full of older kids," the blond one explains, "none of them want first-years sitting with them." He takes a mars bar out of his pocket and unwraps it. "I'm Anthony Goldstein by the way."  
"And I'm Michael Corner." The other one says. They both direct their names at you, they must have already introduced themselves to each other, if they didn't know each other before.  
"I'm Erik Graves. Nice to meet you."  
The boys seem fun and chatty, and soon enough you have discovered that you are all half-bloods (hence the mars bar - you did wonder), although Michael is only a half-blood in the sense that he has a muggle-born mother.  
Just as the train begins to leave the station, there's a knock on the door, and a girl with frizzy red hair and wide eyes opens it.  
"Hi, sorry, I'm looking for my friend. She's, erm, Asian... dark hair..."  
You haven't seen her. What do you tell the girl?"

Sorry, we haven't seen her.  
I'm sure she'll come along. Why don't you wait for her with us?

Back to the last chapter

NEW FRIENDS

"Hey, is this compartment free?"  
The boy looks up, almost surprised to see you. Your first thought is how thin he looks, bones are poking through his cheeks, and his oversized shirt and trousers aren't helping. He has bright green eyes obscured by round glasses, and he looks oddly familiar.  
"Yes."  
You sit down opposite. "My name's Charlie. Charlie Montague. What's your's?"  
"I'm-" but at that moment he was interrupted by the sound of the compartment door opening. A tall, lanky boy stood there, with bright ginger hair and freckles covering his face. You also noticed a smudge of dirt on his nose.  
"Hey, can I join you? There's nowhere else to sit."  
The boy looks to you, waiting for an answer. What do you say?

Sure, sit down.  
Actually, I think there's some space in the compartment opposite.

Back to the last chapter

NEW FRIENDS

"Hey, is this compartment free?"  
The boys look up from their argument, in which one seems to be brandishing a Kenmare Kestrels flyer that the other is looking at with a grudging fascination. In return the other boy is in the process of extracting a maroon and light blue scarf from his overflowing trunk for some reason.  
"Sure," says the one with the Kestrels flyer, "if you settle our argument."  
You sit down opposite, a grin spreading across your face. "Of course. What's it about?"  
"Well, Dean here - this is Dean, by the way."  
"Dean Thomas," the boy clarifies.  
"And I'm Seamus Finnigan-"  
"My name's Charlie Montague. If you were interested."  
"Right. Anyway, Dean says that football is - you heard of football?"  
"Weird muggle sport, isn't it?" you ask. You try to wrack your brains for some knowledge, and all you can come up with is that balls and feet are involved. You think there might be some sticks too, there's usually sticks.  
"Weird? It's the best sport ever! So you've got two teams of eleven players, and the objective is to get the ball into the goal, right? But your hands can't touch the ball, and-"  
"What about the sticks?" you add, trying to sound intelligent. You can see that hasn't worked when Dean looks confused.  
"Sticks?"  
"Football... sticks?"  
He shakes his head. "Football doesn't have sticks. Anyway-"  
"The point is," Seamus interjects, "Dean says football is better than Quidditch, which is obviously wrong. Come on, back me up here, Charlie."  
What do you say is better?

Football  
Quidditch

Back to the last chapter

NEW FRIENDS

"Hey, is this compartment free?"  
The shy girl looks up as you enter. She has blonde-red hair that curls around her shoulders and smiles nervously at you. "Sure."  
You sit down opposite her. "I'm Jamie. Jamie Hudson."  
"Hi. I'm Susan Bones." You sit in silence for a moment, the mutual awkwardness of two people who don't know each other forced to exchange pleasantries. "So... looking forward to Hogwarts?" she asks.  
"Yeah," you reply, "I feel like I've spent my whole life waiting to go there, and now I am. My sister always made it sound so exciting." You grin slightly manically, and she giggles back. The tension appears to have been broken.  
At that moment the door slides open and another girl appears at the door. This girl has darker hair and large, brown eyes. You're slightly annoyed at being interrupted, as you and Susan seemed to be getting on well.  
"Hey, can I sit in here with you?"  
Susan and the girl look to you. What do you say?

Yeah, I'd like to make more friends.  
There's a compartment next door with some room in it.

Back to the last chapter

NEW FRIENDS

"Hey, is this compartment free?"  
The red-haired boy looks up, seemingly relieved, but the blond boy takes a moment to notice something's wrong. He was talking very loudly and sounded a bit posh and looked very excited. He beams when he catches sight of you.  
"Hello! Come, sit down, plenty of room."  
Probably because you've scared them all away, you think. "Thanks. My name's Jamie, by the way. Jamie Hudson. What's your's?"  
"I'm Ernie. Ernie Macmillan." The posh boy takes your hand and shakes it vigorously, smiling all the while. You think underneath all the loudness and poshness is a genuinely nice guy.  
"And I'm Justin." Justin seemed more morose after that initial flare of hope when you entered. "Ernie's been telling me all about Hogwarts."  
"Justin's a muggle-born." He sounds as though he's talking about a unicorn. "He's got so much to learn, it must be great!"  
Justin looks slightly sick at this, and it strikes you how hard it must be to be a muggle-born going to Hogwarts. Imagine, a few months ago, you're a normal muggle, and then all of a sudden you're off to wizard school! Although, there is some truth in what Ernie says, it would be amazing to learn it all again.  
"Wow," you say, as way of voicing your thoughts, "that must be quite a change."  
Justin nods. "I had my name down for Eton before I came here."  
You gasp a bit, and you thought Ernie was the posh one, but he just looks confused. "What's Eton?"  
"Oh, it's a really posh muggle school," you explain. After all, half of your grandparents are muggles. "Like really posh. The prince of Wales went there."  
"Oh, right," he says, but you bet he's pondering over the Welsh royal family that he hadn't heard of. "So are you half-blood then?"  
"Yeah, sort of. My parents are both magic, but my mum's a muggle-born."  
"You guys must know loads of magic already." Justin murmurs.  
You feel it's up to you to say something. What do you say?

I know quite a bit already.  
You'll pick it up quickly enough.

Back to the last chapter

NEW FRIENDS

"Hey, is this compartment free?"  
The blond boy looks at you and seems to survey both of you a little. The gorillas sitting opposite him, however, don't even look up. You notice the difference between them; the blond boy reminds you of fairy princes from muggle fairy tales, and his friends are very clearly more closely related to trolls. "I suppose so," the blond boy replies pompously, and you sit down next to him. "What are your names?" he asks. He has a languid, drawling voice and yet remains very prim and proper.  
"I'm Sam Sheppard, and this is Robert." You reply.  
"Sheppard?" he raises his eyebrows. "I don't recognise that surname." He puts a meaning into those words that you can't quite fathom, and the trolls opposite him snigger. "Oh, I'm Draco Malfoy, by the way, and this is Crabbe and Goyle. I'm sure you recognise _our_ names. Unless, of course..."  
You're usually quicker than Rob, but he gets it this time. "We're not muggle-born. We're half-blood. Our father's a lawyer."  
Malfoy raises his eyebrows again and looks uneasy. "Right. Well... that's OK, I suppose."  
You sit back and watch him uneasily. What do you do?

Tell him he can't speak to you like that.  
Say nothing.  
Agree with him and his stance on muggles - you always hated your father.

Back to the last chapter

NEW FRIENDS

"Hey, is this compartment free?"  
The girl looks up from playing with the cat. "Sure." Her hair is really black and shiny, and oddly matches the hair on her cat. You could almost imagine her cat was some lost brother who had been transfigured. Her face has a weird sharp look to it; her nose is really pointy, her cheekbones are prominent and she has a really strong jawline. Fancy-looking bone structure.  
"I'm Robert Sheppard," your brother says, "and this is Sam. Sheppard. We're twins."  
"Twins?" the girl raises her eyebrows. "Wow. I'm Pansy Parkinson." She thinks for a moment. "Sheppard? I don't recognise that surname. Are you pure-bloods?"  
"No," you say frostily, "half-bloods. Our father's a muggle lawyer."  
She nods. "That's OK. I'm half-blood too, my mother was a muggle. I never knew her though."  
"Oh," Rob says. You nod in agreement of his sentiment. You sort of regret sitting with her, you want your friends to be powerful, and from what you've heard, greater blood purity is better power. What do you do?

Stay sat with her.  
Say you're going to look for the toilet and find someone else to sit with

Back to the last chapter

NEW FRIENDS

"Hey, is this compartment free?"  
The two boys look up to greet you. One had sort of golden-blond hair and was quite large - not fat, just large - and the other was a small boy with a large black afro. They both smile welcomingly.  
"Sure, sit down," the blond boy tells you. "I'm Anthony Goldstein, and this is Michael Corner. What's your name?"  
"Alex Davison," you reply. You feel kind of awkward, you've never been that good at making friends, but these boys seem nice. "So do you know each other then?"  
"No," Michael tells you, "we just met. Although, I swear my mum mentioned knowing a Goldstein at school. Something like Joseph."  
"Joshua? Joshua's my dad."  
"Yeah, it was probably that," Michael grins at you. "Hey, what house were your parents in?"  
"Oh, I'm a muggle-born. My mum's a teacher and my dad's a carpenter."  
"Really?" Anthony looks intrigued. "Wicked."  
You smile. You'd been kind of worried about being a muggle-born, especially that everyone would already know each other, but these boys are so welcoming.  
At that moment, a girl with frizzy red hair appears at the door.  
"Sorry, have you seen my friend? She's, erm, Asian, dark hair..."  
The boys look at you. What do you say?

That you haven't seen her friend.  
That she could wait for her friend with you.

Back to the last chapter

NEW FRIENDS

"Hey, is this compartment free?"  
The girls look up at you, one of whom is still sniffling. You couldn't stand by and watch this girl cry. The crying girl has shortish brown hair and really pale skin, the other girl looks Japanese and is looking at you gratefully.  
"Hey," you say softly to the crying girl. "I'm Alex. Alex Davison. Are you OK?"  
She sniffs and nods, and speaks inbetween little gasps of tears. "I'm sorry. It's just - my parents... I miss them... and my sister..." she wipes away some more tears. "I'm Lisa Turpin."  
You smile at her, and look expectantly to the other girl. "I'm Sue Li," she tells you.  
"Nice to meet you," you say. Lisa is still crying, and you feel like you should do something to cheer her up. But what?

Nothing. This is just too hard.  
Ask her about her family.  
Buy her chocolate.

Back to the last chapter

RON WEASLEY

"Of course you can sit with us."  
The boy grins and sits down next to you. He keeps glancing at the other boy with the glasses, but looks away like he'd never looked. Two equally ginger, and identical, boys appear at the window to the compartment.  
"Hey, Ron," one of them says, talking to the boy next to you, "listen, we're going down the middle of the train, Lee Jordan's got a giant tarantula down there."  
"Right," the boy, presumably Ron, mutters.  
"Harry," the other twin is talking to the green-eyed boy now, "did we introduce ourselves? Fred and George Weasley. And this is Ron, our brother. See you later, then." He nods at you, too, and you smile slightly as the other boys say goodbye.  
Ron looks at - presumably, Harry - for a moment before seemingly bringing up the courage to talk. "Are you really Harry Potter?"  
Harry nods, and you start to choke on your own surprise.  
"Harry Potter!?" You splutter, and the other two boys start to laugh at the shock on your face.  
"It's just-" Ron says between laughs, "I thought it might have been one of Fred and George's jokes."  
"Hang on," you interject, "have you got the, you know-" you point to your forehead."  
Harry grins and pulls back his messy fringe to reveal a thin scar shaped like a lightning bolt.  
Ron gapes at it. "So that's where You-Know-Who-"  
"Yes," Harry says quickly, "but I can't remember it."  
"Nothing?" you ask, disappointed. Well, anyone would be.  
"I remember a lot of green light, but nothing else."  
"Wow," you and Ron say together, before catching each other's eyes and laughing.  
"So, are all your families wizards?" Harry asks the two of you.  
"Er - yes, I think so. I think mum's got a second cousin who's an accountant, but we never talk about him." Ron tells you.  
"Well my dad's family is pure-blood," you say, "but my mum's a muggle-born. So I've got quite a lot of muggle family, a few muggle cousins and stuff. Don't you live with muggles?" You ask Harry.  
"Oh yeah!" Ron remembers suddenly, "hey, what are they like?"  
"Horrible - well, not all of them. My aunt and uncle and cousin are though, wish I'd had wizard brothers like you two."  
You're surprised for a moment before you realise Harry must have been watching you and Simon on the Platform. You grimace.  
"No you don't. My brother's - well, he's a Slytherin, so you can figure it out from there."  
Ron nods solemnly, and Harry seems to recognise the term. You'd forgotten for a second that he doesn't know magic things. It seems weird, when he's one of the most famous wizards in the world.  
"Right. My brothers aren't as bad as that, but I've got five of them. I'm the sixth in our family to go to Hogwarts. You could say I've got a lot to live up to. Bill and Charlie have already left - Bill was head boy and Charlie was captain of Quidditch. Now Percy's a prefect. Fred and George mess around a lot, but they still get really good grades and everyone thinks they're really funny. Everyone expects me to do as well as the others, but if I do it's no big deal because they did it first. You never get anything new, either, with five brothers. I've got Bill's old robes, Charlie's old wand and Percy's old rat."  
Ron gets a fat, grey rat from his jacket pocket and holds him out on the palm of his hand. It's asleep. What do you do?

Recoil in horror at the rat  
Pet the rat.

Back to the last chapter

ABOUT HARRY

You attempt to surreptitiously back away from the sleeping rat on Ron's palm. You've never been very good with animals, especially the creepy crawly plaguey kind. Ron frowns at you.  
"He's harmless, he won't hurt you. He never does anything, he's useless, he hardly ever wakes up. Percy got an owl from my dad for being made a prefect, but they couldn't aff- I mean, I got Scabbers instead."  
Ron's ears go faintly pink and he looks out of the window, embarrassed. Harry looks thoughtful for a moment.  
"Well, I never had any money at all until about a month ago, my aunt and uncle wouldn't give me any. I had to wear Dudley's - I mean, my cousin's - hand-me-downs, and they were always far too big for me," you glance down at Harry's oversized t-shirt and trousers. "I never even got any birthday presents. Not real ones, not like they get on TV. I mean, sometimes they'd give me a pair of socks or something. Or a coat hanger, they gave me that once. But never anything proper."  
Ron seems strangely to brighten at that, but you think it sounds horrible. Harry seems like such a kind, sweet boy, and you hate to hear that he's been treated like this.  
"And until Hagrid told me," Harry continues, "I didn't know anything about being a wizard or about my parents or Voldemort-"  
Harry Potter has just said Voldemort. Is this OK?

Yes  
No

Back to the last chapter

YOU-KNOW-WHO

You stifle a gasp, you can't help it, you've been brought up all your life never to say the word, and now the one boy who should be afraid of it more than anyone is saying it. Ron, however, doesn't stifle his gasp.  
"What?" Harry asks, strangely confused.  
"_You said You-Know-Who's name!_" Ron said breathlessly, staring at Harry in weird admiration. "I'd have thought you, of all people-"  
"I'm not trying to be _brave_ or anything, saying the name, I just never knew you shouldn't. I've got loads to learn. I bet..." Harry pauses, and lowers his voice even though nobody else can hear anyway, "I bet I'm the worst in the class."  
"You won't be," you assure him. Harry Potter being bad at magic would be weird, anyway. "Everyone starts off the same, and besides, there are loads of muggle-borns who go on to do really well. My mum was a muggle-born, and now she's a top Healer at St Mungo's. Oh," you add at the confused look on Harry's face, "a healer is like a wizard doctor."  
"Really? Your mum's a doctor?"  
You nod, and Harry seems to cheer up a bit.

Some Time Later...

Back to the last chapter

THE SWEET TROLLEY

At about half-past twelve, there was a clattering outside the door and you saw an old lady approach your compartment with a trolley full of food. You slide open the door and jangle the few sickles you've got in your pocket.  
"Anything off the trolley, dears?"  
You buy two chocolate frogs and a cauldron cake. You feel like you should buy something other than sweets but you've never liked pumpkin pasties. Harry seems to look in wonder at all the magical sweets, although you suppose it must be pretty amazing to someone who's never seen them before, and he promptly buys what seems to be most of the trolley. You and Ron gape at the truly wide selection of foods that he's bought.  
"Hungry, are you?" Ron asks with a smile.  
"Starving," and, to be fair, if anyone needs feeding up it's this boy. As he bites into a pumpkin pasty, you start to open your chocolate frog, and Ron looks desolately at some sandwiches he has.  
"She always forgets I don't like corned beef."  
"Swap you for one of these, go on-" Harry says, holding up a pasty.  
"You don't want this, it's all dry. She hasn't got much time, you know, with five of us."  
"Ron, take the pasty," you tell him. Rather him than you, you think. You've never really understood the wizard fascination with pumpkin. Ron takes it hesitantly, but bites into it. He discards the sandwiches, which do look very dry, on the seat.  
"What are these?" Harry asks, distracted, holding up a chocolate frog box. "They're not _really_ frogs are they?"  
"Nah, they're just enchanted," you say, opening up your own and grabbing the frog before it could get away. You stuff it in your mouth and eat it, whilst Harry looks on vaguely disgusted. "But the best thing about them is the cards." You get the card from the box and turn it over to see a picture of a man wearing a purple robe. "Awesome! Justice Pilliwickle! I don't have him!" You watch him yawn and begin to read his book before you're distracted by something coming your way. Harry's chocolate frog jumps towards you and you catch it with an outstretched hand. Harry looked nervous but you persist. "Go on, it's just chocolate."  
Reluctantly, Harry takes the frog and crams it in his face. It's more or less physically impossible to eat them gracefully, without having the unpleasant feeling that you're biting a frog's leg off. Harry looks at the card absent-mindedly.  
"So _this_ is Dumbledore!"  
"Don't tell me you've never heard of Dumbledore!" said Ron. "Can I have a frog? I might get Agrippa, I'm missing her." You chuck one at him. "Thanks."  
You begin to open your other frog, when Harry's eyes widen dramatically. "He's gone!"  
You look over his shoulder to see that Dumbledore had indeed left the frame of the card.  
"Well, you can't expect him to hang around all day," Ron tells him, "he'll be back. No, I've got Morgana and I've got about six of her... do you want it? You can start collecting."  
Ron starts looking at the pile of unopened boxes, and Harry smiles at him. "Help yourself. But in, you know, the muggle world, people just stay put in photos."  
Ron looks amazed, and you laugh at him. "Ron, how don't you know _that_?"  
Ron was more interested in the chocolate of the frogs rather than the cards, meaning he made quite a few unwise trades with you (and the spare chocolate frog cards you brought with you for such an occasion), and you even ended up with Laverne de Montmorency, and offloaded two doxy cards between your two new friends.  
You moved on from the cards, though, when Harry started being interested in some Bertie Bott's Beans.  
"You want to be careful with those," Ron tells him, "when they say every flavour, they _mean_ every flavour - you know, you get all the ordinary ones like chocolate and peppermint and marmalade, but then you can get spinach and liver and tripe. George reckons he had a bogey-flavoured one once."  
Ron picks up a green bean. He inspects it carefully, as though that will help, and nibbles a corner.  
"Bleugh. See? Sprouts."  
He holds out the box to you, and two stand out. An orange one and a strange white one with brown speckles. Which do you pick?

The orange one  
The white one

Back to the last chapter

MEET TOADY

You decide to play it safe and go for the orange one. You figure that orange=orange, almost always, and pop it in your mouth happily. You grimace. You've got nothing against carrots in general, you just don't want them in your sweets.  
Some time later, there's a knock on the door of the compartment. You open it to see a blond round-faced boy standing there, almost crying.  
"Sorry, but have you seen a toad at all?"  
You shake your heads. The boy cries out slightly. "I've lost him! He keeps getting away from me."  
You can't stand to see him so upset, but you also don't really want to end up searching the entire train for some toad. What do you do?

Offer to help  
Let him leave

Back to the last chapter

NEVILLE LONGBOTTOM

You sigh. "Do you want some help looking for the toad?"  
The boy sniffles, but looks a little more hopeful. "Really? That would be great. Thank you so much. I'm Neville, by the way. Neville Longbottom."  
"I'm Nicholas Dedworth - Nick Dedworth. This is Ron Weasley, and Harry Potter."  
For a moment you'd forgotten what being introduced to Harry Potter does to most of the wizarding world, and Neville's sharp intake of breath almost catches you by surprise.  
"H- Harry Potter? Really? Wow." He stares at Harry's forehead for a second, before looking away.  
A voice rings out from down the train. "Neville? Have you found him yet?"  
"Oh, erm, no!" He calls back, as though he had just remembered he was supposed to be looking for his treasured pet. "Hey, Hermione, this guy says he'll help."  
Neville gestures excitedly at you to a small girl approaching you from the other end of the train. She has a lot of bushy hair and quite prominent front teeth, and looks oddly defiant. You smile weakly at her, and she loosens her facial expression to smile a little back.  
"Nick Dedworth." You hold out your hand to her.  
She takes it nervously. "Hermione Granger. Nice of you to help look for Trevor."  
"Trevor?" you ask.  
"Neville's toad. We've done about half the train, we can't find him _anywhere_," she sighs.  
You feel like sighing yourself. This seems like a wild goose chase to you, asking random people whether they've seen a toad. It's probably been stepped on or something by now. But you can't back out of an agreement.  
You look to Ron and Harry, hoping one of them will join you.

Ask Harry to join you.  
Ask Ron to join you.  
Ask them both to join you.  
Go it alone.

Back to the last chapter

WILD TOAD HUNT

"Hey, Harry, wanna come help hunt down a toad?" you ask, hoping the pleading look in your eyes is coming across.  
He looks at Neville's hopeful face and realises there's only really one thing he can say. "I suppose."  
Ron looks relieved that he doesn't have to search the train for a toad, and to be left alone with quite a bit of food, but annoyed that his two new friends are leaving. "See you later," he says weakly.  
You wave, and go off down the train with the other three.  
"It'd be best if we split into two groups," Hermione says, "we'll cover more ground then."  
"That sounds like a good idea," Neville says. "Nick, who do you want to go with?"

Harry  
Hermione  
Neville

Back to the last chapter

FINDING TREVOR

"I'll go with Harry," you say. "Neville, you can go with Hermione."  
Hermione doesn't seem very pleased with that, but she resigns herself quickly.  
"OK. You carry on from here, we'll go to the other end of the train. Meet you in the middle."  
"See you." Harry says as the two of you head off down the train in search of a missing amphibian. As the long corridor of compartments looms ahead of you you are hit with a wave of hopelessness for Trevor's fate.  
"Where should we start?" Harry asks, and you gesture to a compartment to your right. Seems as good a place to start as any. You knock on the door and slide it open. Inside is sat two boys laughing about something. They stop as you enter.  
"Sorry," you say, "have you seen a toad?"  
"A toad?" one of them says, the sandy-haired one.  
"One of our friends has lost one." Harry tells them.  
"Oh, right. Sorry, we haven't seen one." The other boy tells you. "Hey, I wouldn't like you to let down your friend, but after you're done, do you want to come and sit with us? We're getting a bit bored."  
The sandy-haired boy feints annoyance, but you can see some truth in it in their faces. You think of Ron, but these boys seem fun. Maybe you could just sit with them for a bit. What do you say?

Sure  
Sorry, we can't.

Back to the last chapter

THE SEARCH CONTINUES

You look to Harry, and he shrugs. "Sure," you tell them. "We've got to go look for the toad now, but we'll see if we can find you in a bit."  
"I'm Seamus, by the way," the sandy-haired one says, "and this is Dean."  
"Good luck," Dean tells you, although he doesn't sound optimistic. It's fair enough, you think, you don't feel optimistic.  
"See you later," Harry smiles at them, and you leave. You can see one compartment a little way up with the door open, a door that an opportunistic toad may use to enter by. You decide to check it out.  
Inside you find four kids, two boys and two girls. The boys seem roughly your age, but the girls seem a little older than you. You knock on the door, even though it's already open.  
"Sorry, but have you seen a toad?" you ask. One of the girls, the one with frizzy red hair, sniggers.  
"No, sorry," one of the boys says. "You lost one?"  
"Yeah. Well, our friend has."  
The other girl, a particularly pretty Asian girl, smiles at the two of you. "If we see a toad, we'll try to let you know."  
"Thanks," Harry says, staring at her slightly, "we'll be just down the corridor in a bit. Feel free to drop in."  
"We will," she replies. You almost have to drag Harry away from the compartment.  
When you get outside, you laugh at Harry a bit. He goes a little red and murmurs, "shut up."  
The next compartment you check contains three boys. One of them is small and slim, with white-blond hair, and the other two are very large and threatening. You think they look older than you.  
"Sorry, have you seen a toad?" Harry asks nervously. You feel nervous too, these boys don't seem welcoming.  
The blond boy scoffs. "Why would you want to find one?"  
"Have you seen it? It's our friend's," you say, a bit louder, a bit more threateningly, a bit braver.  
"No, no toads around here. Goyle probably would have squashed it already." He laughs at this, a strange almost staged laugh.  
"Come on, Harry," you say, and you both go to leave.  
"Wait a moment," you pause, as does Harry, almost frozen in place, you with your hand on the door and him brushing his long fringe out of his eyes. "Is it really you? I'd heard Harry Potter was on the train." The boy grins, and you're slightly relieved that he doesn't seem to be about to set his gorillas on you.  
Harry flattens his fringe nervously over his scar. "It's me. I'm Harry Potter, yeah."  
Draco looks impressed, and even his friends seem to react to the news, although you're not sure in what way.  
"I'm Draco Malfoy," he says pompously. "You and your friend would be welcome to join us in our carriage."  
"Sorry, we're already sitting with someone," Harry says.  
"No matter," Draco continues, "but I'd like to get to know you. I could... help to look for this toad? What do you say?"  
He holds out his hand, and Harry looks to you nervously. What do you say?

We'd be glad of the help  
We're fine on our own.

Back to the last chapter

NO SIGN OF THE TOAD

You're not sure of Draco, but your mother always taught you never to judge a book by its cover.  
"Sure. We'd be glad of the help."  
Harry shakes Draco's hand, and the blond boy looks very pleased.  
"Right, Crabbe, Goyle, stay here. Look after my stuff. We'll find that toad in no time."  
As you leave, you decide to introduce yourself to the boy.  
"I'm Nicholas Dedworth. You can call me Nick."  
"Nice to meet you Nick," he says absent-mindedly, before he turns to face Harry. "Where should we look?"  
You don't think Harry's quite a natural leader, but once he gets it that you will go where he tells you to he gains control of the group. Between the three of you you gain ground much more quickly, and soon you catch sight of Neville and Hermione asking around the other half of the compartments. Neither group has had much luck.  
"Sorry Neville," you say, clapping him on the shoulder. He sighs.  
"I just got him, too. My Great Uncle Algie will be so disappointed."  
You don't know who or what this 'Great Uncle Algie' is, but you nod sympathetically nonetheless.  
"Right," Draco claps his hands together, "that's the toad done with. Mind if I come and sit with you boys? Crabbe and Goyle are unbearably dull at best."  
You don't know what to say. On the one hand, Draco was very helpful, and seemed quite smart during the search, and he's nice to Harry. On the other hand, he does have a tendency to rudeness, and seemed to ignore you for most of the time. Harry looks unwilling to answer. What do you say?

Of course you can.  
I'm not sure if Seamus and Dean would like that.

Back to the last chapter

SEAMUS AND DEAN

"Course you can. I'm sure Seamus and Dean won't mind."  
"Thanks," Draco grins, and you grin back. He does seem genuinely pleased to be with the two of you, or maybe just Harry.  
"Come on, Nick, let's find them," Harry tells you. He seems sort of glad that Draco's there with you, but also uneasy.  
You find their compartment easy enough, as it's just down the corridor from Draco's. He looks nervous as he passes by his two large friends, but they don't look up.  
"Hey, Seamus, Dean," you say as you enter. They greet you in an equally friendly manner.  
"Who's this?"  
"This is Draco Malfoy," Harry says. "He helped us look for the toad."  
"Did you find it, then?" Seamus asks.  
"No, nowhere in sight. We think it's gone for good," you say.  
"Shame," Dean replies, but he doesn't look surprised. Neither of them do.  
You sit down next to Dean, and Harry and Draco sit next to Seamus. You chat happily for a while, having entirely forgotten Ron, until the talk turns to the topic of houses.  
"Well I want to be in Gryffindor, you know, like my dad," you say.  
"Gryffindor?" Draco snorts.  
"Why? Were'd you go?" Seamus asks annoyed.  
He puffs out his chest proudly. "Slytherin. All the best wizards go to Slytherin."  
You narrow your eyes at him, could he really be so stupid? "All the most evil wizards go to Slytherin. Hey, back me up Dean."  
Dean shakes his head and looks slightly embarrassed. "I don't know what you're talking about. I'm a muggle-born."  
Draco's eyes widen. Then he sneers. "Gryffindors and muggle-borns. Come on Harry, you can have better friends than this. You can come too, Nick, if you want."  
Harry looks conflicted. He'd gotten on quite well with Draco until that, and you suppose he doesn't really understand the politics, nor does Dean, who's looking very confused and not a little scared. What do you do?

Get annoyed at Draco  
Get annoyed at Draco and Harry  
Get annoyed at Dean and Harry  
Get annoyed at Dean

Back to the last chapter

TRUE COLOURS

"I'm fine, you know," you say, frowning. "I thought you were OK, but no, you're just some - what's wrong with muggle-borns, anyway?"  
Draco looks you in the eye with steely determination. "I thought you were OK, too. More than that, I thought you were smart. That you weren't stupid at least. What's wrong with muggle-borns!? Looks like I was wrong." He turns to Harry. "Are you coming, Harry?"  
You place a hand on Harry's shoulder. "He doesn't have to go anywhere with you." Then you turn to face him. "Harry, this guy... well the stuff he's talking about, it's not nice stuff. It's kind of like racism, but the kind we have in the wizarding world. Some people think that muggle-borns aren't as good as pure-bloods. They're wrong - he's wrong."  
Harry looks confused. You remember something from your dad's bedtime stories as a kid.  
"Harry, your mum was a muggle-born. You can't go with him, he's not... the things he believes..."  
But Harry's already made up his choice. He faces Draco.  
"I'm not going with you. I think I can decide who to be friends with myself."  
"You tell him, Harry," Seamus mutters.  
Draco looks angry and storms out, and Dean claps Harry on the arm.  
"Thanks man." He turns to you. "You too, Nick. I'm not really sure what that guy was going on about but looks like you two are on my side, and I'm glad for it."  
You nod, and sit down. You're a bit emotionally drained from the confrontation.  
Harry nudges you, and points to Dean's watch.  
"It's getting late," he whispers, "Ron'll be wondering where we are."  
You know Ron will be annoyed at how long you've gone, and even more so if you don't come back, but you're having fun here, and you like Seamus and Dean. What do you suggest?

Go back to Ron  
Get Ron to come to this compartment  
Stay with Seamus and Dean

Back to the last chapter

HOGSMEADE STATION

"Sorry, guys, we ought to go back, our friend's waiting," you say.  
Seamus and Dean look a little disappointed, but don't argue your reasoning. You and Harry leave the compartment back to Ron. He looks surprised to see you. You see a few more sweet wrappers around than there were when you left.  
"Harry! Nick! What took you so long?"  
"Sorry, we were talking to a couple of boys up the corridor," Harry tells him.  
"So, did you find it? The toad?" Ron asks.  
You both shake your heads sadly. Ron slumps back on his chair.  
"Didn't even find the toad," you think you hear him mutter.  
You and Harry sit down, and chat happily with Ron for a bit as the sun fades, although he still seems annoyed at you. You feel the train begin to slow down, and you decide to change into your robes. You love your robes, you feel like a proper wizard in them. Before, the only people you'd seen in robes were your father and his colleagues. Now you could almost be a ministry worker. Although, you reflect, that doesn't sound that great.  
Harry, too, is looking at his robes with some interest. You suppose if he'd grown up in the muggle world he'd probably never even seen somebody wearing robes before.  
The train continues to slow down, until it comes to a stop at a station that proclaims itself to be Hogsmeade station. You look around, and it looks like you're in the middle of nowhere. You venture outside the train with caution like all the other first years, avoiding the loud and confident older years. The air is bitterly cold and you draw your cloak closer around yourself.  
You hear a deep, deafening voice coming from the other side of the platform.  
"Firs' years! Firs' years this way!"  
The source of the noise is a terrifying giant who towers over you, his face almost completely covered by beard. Harry seems oddly pleased to see him.  
"Hi, Hagrid!"  
"Harry!" The giant recognises your new friend. "Good ter see yeh. Firs' years are over this way. Oh," he notices yourself and Ron, and you both try to surreptitiously hide behind the other with little success. "Yeh've made some friends already. Good ter see."  
He waves you along with the stream of other nervous children and once more takes up his deafening call. You want to ask Harry how he knows the man, but you feel too cold to speak.  
Hagrid finds you not long after next to a wide, dark lake on which float some rickety-looking boats.  
"Righ', four ter a boat. Don' lean over the side, or the squid'll get yer."  
He chuckles, but you don't feel like laughing. In the light of day it might seem preposterous, but here by the misty lake the prospect of a giant quid beneath you seems all too real.  
You, Ron and Harry find a boat, and look for someone else to join you. You can see two people on their own: a mousy-haired chubby boy who looks very lost and nervous, or a pale haughty girl with a neat black bob. Who do you invite over?

The girl  
The boy

Back to the last chapter

HOGSMEADE STATION

"Why don't we bring Ron back here?" you whisper back.  
"That's a good idea," Harry says, before loudly asking Seamus and Dean, "do you wind if we go get a friend?"  
"Sure, feel free," the boys say, and you and Harry rush off to tell Ron.  
"Harry! Nick! What took you so long?"  
"Sorry, we were talking to a couple of boys up the corridor," Harry tells him.  
"So, did you find it? The toad?" Ron asks.  
You both shake your heads sadly. Ron slumps back on his chair.  
"Didn't even find the toad," you think you hear him mutter.  
"Hey, do you want to meet them? They're just up the corridor, we could sit with them," you say hopefully.  
Ron thinks for a moment, before seeming to brighten up. "Yeah, let's go."  
You, Ron and Harry return to Dean and Seamus, and the five of you chat happily for a bit as the sun fades, although Ron still seems a little annoyed at you. You feel the train begin to slow down, and you decide to change into your robes. You love your robes, you feel like a proper wizard in them. Before, the only people you'd seen in robes were your father and his colleagues. Now you could almost be a ministry worker. Although, you reflect, that doesn't sound that great.  
Harry and Dean, too, are looking at their robes with some interest. You suppose if they'd grown up in the muggle world they'd probably never even seen somebody wearing robes before.  
The train continues to slow down, until it comes to a stop at a station that proclaims itself to be Hogsmeade station. You look around, and it looks like you're in the middle of nowhere. You venture outside the train with caution like all the other first years, avoiding the loud and confident older years. The air is bitterly cold and you draw your cloak closer around yourself.  
You hear a deep, deafening voice coming from the other side of the platform.  
"Firs' years! Firs' years this way!"  
The source of the noise is a terrifying giant who towers over you, his face almost completely covered by beard. Harry seems oddly pleased to see him.  
"Hi, Hagrid!"  
"Harry!" The giant recognises your new friend. "Good ter see yeh. Firs' years are over this way. Oh," he notices yourself and the others, and you all try to surreptitiously hide behind one another with little success. "Yeh've made some friends already. Good ter see."  
He waves you along with the stream of other nervous children and once more takes up his deafening call. You want to ask Harry how he knows the man, but you feel too cold to speak.  
Hagrid finds you not long after next to a wide, dark lake on which float some rickety-looking boats.  
"Righ', four ter a boat. Don' lean over the side, or the squid'll get yer."  
He chuckles, but you don't feel like laughing. In the light of day it might seem preposterous, but here by the misty lake the prospect of a giant quid beneath you seems all too real.  
Four to a boat means there's not room for all of you. You could hope someone else volunteers to go on another boat, or you could go join the three girls you can see to your left looking for someone else. What do you do?

Stay where you are.  
Go join the girls

Back to the last chapter

HOGSMEADE STATION

"We could stay here for a bit longer," you whisper back.  
"I suppose so," Harry replies.  
"What was that?" Dean asks, and you shake your head.  
"Nothing."  
The four of you chat happily for a bit as the sun fades, trying not to think how annoyed Ron will be with you. You feel the train begin to slow down, and you decide to change into your robes. You love your robes, you feel like a proper wizard in them. Before, the only people you'd seen in robes were your father and his colleagues. Now you could almost be a ministry worker. Although, you reflect, that doesn't sound that great.  
Harry and Dean, too, are looking at their robes with some interest. You suppose if they'd grown up in the muggle world they'd probably never even seen somebody wearing robes before.  
The train continues to slow down, until it comes to a stop at a station that proclaims itself to be Hogsmeade station. You look around, and it looks like you're in the middle of nowhere. You venture outside the train with caution like all the other first years, avoiding the loud and confident older years. The air is bitterly cold and you draw your cloak closer around yourself.  
You hear a deep, deafening voice coming from the other side of the platform.  
"Firs' years! Firs' years this way!"  
The source of the noise is a terrifying giant who towers over you, his face almost completely covered by beard. Harry seems oddly pleased to see him.  
"Hi, Hagrid!"  
"Harry!" The giant recognises your new friend. "Good ter see yeh. Firs' years are over this way. Oh," he notices yourself and the others, and you all try to surreptitiously hide behind one another with little success. "Yeh've made some friends already. Good ter see."  
He waves you along with the stream of other nervous children and once more takes up his deafening call. You want to ask Harry how he knows the man, but you feel too cold to speak.  
Hagrid finds you not long after next to a wide, dark lake on which float some rickety-looking boats.  
"Righ', four ter a boat. Don' lean over the side, or the squid'll get yer."  
He chuckles, but you don't feel like laughing. In the light of day it might seem preposterous, but here by the misty lake the prospect of a giant quid beneath you seems all too real.  
The four of you clamber into a little boat and you try to look as small as possible as you watch Ron begrudgingly get into a boat with three giggling girls. The ride is surprisingly smooth, but you daren't look over the side into the deep water beneath you. The group of boats turn a corner and you are met with your first view of Hogwarts castle.  
"Wow," you breathe, although you're not the only one. The castle is everything you imagined, it looks like a fairy tale castle but also imbued with some indescribable... magic. You don't know how they've lit it up so perfectly but you decide not to care.  
Hagrid ushers you into a hall where you are met by a very stern-looking lady in green robes. Any words you might have been about to say, possibly about the relief that this warmth is after what's outside, are immediately swallowed in your throat.  
"Welcome to Hogwarts," she says, "the start-of-term feast will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the great hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with your house, sleep in your house dormitory and spend free time in your house common-room. The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule-breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honour. I hope each of you will become a credit to whichever house becomes yours. The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting."  
You follow the woman's gaze to see Ron a few meters away from you, looking nervous. You know he might be mad if he sees you, but you feel bad about abandoning him. What do you do?

Wave to him.  
Duck out of sight.

Back to the last chapter

TRUE COLOURS

"I'm fine, you know," you say, frowning. "I thought you were OK, but no, you're just some - what's wrong with muggle-borns, anyway?"  
Draco looks you in the eye with steely determination. "I thought you were OK, too. More than that, I thought you were smart. That you weren't stupid at least. What's wrong with muggle-borns!? Looks like I was wrong." He turns to Harry. "Are you coming, Harry?"  
You look at Harry, and he frowns, like he's considering what Draco's saying. You can feel rage boiling up inside you, rage for your muggle-born mother, for Harry's muggle-born mother, for all the muggle-borns who've had someone like Harry watch on as they were hurt, considering their own stance in this.  
"Well go on then," you say angrily. "Go with him. I can tell you want to. Go with the muggle-hater."  
Harry looks alarmed and confused. "No, I didn't-"  
"Come on, Harry," Draco says gently, yet firmly.  
"I think maybe you should go, mate," Dean says. You notice that he's not looking at Harry, but you.  
Draco gestures to Harry and leaves, and Harry follows behind him still looking confused as you watch him go.  
"Thanks man." Dean turns to you, talking softly as you try to tone down your rage. "I'm not really sure what that guy was going on about but looks like you're on my side, and I'm glad for it."  
You nod, and sit down. You're a bit emotionally drained from the confrontation. The other boys are watching you apprehensively.  
"Sorry," you try to explain. "It's just... my mum's a muggle-born. And I've seen it, you know? The people who don't like muggle-borns, well they're one thing, but then there's those who just stand by and watch it happen. I just hate it."  
"I know. When me mam married me dad - he's a muggle, you know - those guys gave her some grief for it."  
You nod solemnly. Nobody says anything for a moment, but then Dean laughs, and says, "you know, this reminds me of when-" and soon you're all laughing and joking like nothing had ever happened. But the clench of uneasiness never quite leaves your chest.  
Eventually, you feel the train begin to slow down, and you decide to change into your robes. You love your robes, you feel like a proper wizard in them. Before, the only people you'd seen in robes were your father and his colleagues. Now you could almost be a ministry worker. Although, you reflect, that doesn't sound that great.  
Dean, too, is looking at his robes with some interest. You suppose if he'd grown up in the muggle world he'd probably never even seen somebody wearing robes before.  
The train continues to slow down, until it comes to a stop at a station that proclaims itself to be Hogsmeade station. You look around, and it looks like you're in the middle of nowhere. You venture outside the train with caution like all the other first years, avoiding the loud and confident older years. The air is bitterly cold and you draw your cloak closer around yourself.  
You hear a deep, deafening voice coming from the other side of the platform.  
"Firs' years! Firs' years this way!"  
The source of the noise is a terrifying giant who towers over you, his face almost completely covered by beard. He waves you along with the stream of other nervous children heading god knows where.  
The giant finds you not long after next to a wide, dark lake on which float some rickety-looking boats.  
"Righ', four ter a boat. Don' lean over the side, or the squid'll get yer."  
He chuckles, but you don't feel like laughing. In the light of day it might seem preposterous, but here by the misty lake the prospect of a giant quid beneath you seems all too real.  
You catch sight of Harry and Draco climbing into a boat with the two gorillas from Draco's carriage. They, too, are laughing happily like nothing ever happened, causing anger to rise in your chest once more. You then catch sight of Ron looking lost. You need one more person in your boat, and Ron needs a boat, but you're scared of him being mad at leaving him for so long. Next to him is a chubby sandy-haired boy who also needs a boat. Who do you offer a space to?

Ron  
The boy

Back to the last chapter

TRUE COLOURS

"Hey, Nick, you OK?" Seamus asks nervously.  
You stand up, facing them, next to Draco. "You really should have told us, you know."  
"What?" Dean asks. "That I'm muggle-born? Why? Does it matter?"  
You laugh. "Does it matter? That's exactly why it matters, Dean. You shouldn't-" you pause, but everyone else knows what you're saying.  
"I think you should go," Seamus tells you.  
"Whatever," you shrug, "come on, Draco, Harry."  
"No."  
It'd never occurred to you that Harry, that _Harry Potter_, would say no. Would ever say no to this.  
"Excuse me?" Draco asks.  
"I'm not coming. You can't treat him like that, just because he's muggle-born. I grew up with muggles too, you know."  
"But you're different," you say.  
"Am I? Why? Because I'm a Potter? Because I'm Harry Potter? Because my parents came here? I don't know about it either! But I'm going to learn, and so is he!"  
"You don't understand Harry, sit down. It's complicated."  
"I'm not some kid, Nick. I know what's happening. I get what you're saying and I don't want any part in it!"  
"If you knew what we were saying you'd know we were right! All of you! Come on Draco," you catch his arm, "let's go."  
He seems to allow himself to be dragged along by you, almost in awe of such unexpected fury you unleashed. When he recovers himself, he looks around.  
"So, where should we go now? Back to Crabbe and Goyle?"  
You don't really want to sit with Crabbe and Goyle, they didn't seem like the liveliest party. You remember Ron, sitting alone, and wonder how he'd react if you came back without Harry and with this new stranger. What do you do?

Agree with Draco  
Suggest Ron

Back to the last chapter

HOGSMEADE STATION

"Yeah. Crabbe and Goyle," you reply absent-mindedly. Draco doesn't look overly pleased with this, but leads you to where Crabbe and Goyle are murmuring in hushed voices to one another. They look up when you enter.  
"Where's Potter?" Crabbe asks, or possibly Goyle.  
"Off canoodling with muggles," Draco replies, the annoyance ringing clear in his voice.  
They nod, understanding. You wince at Draco's wording.  
You like muggle-borns, of course you do. Your mother's a muggle-born after all. That's why you're so surprised Harry doesn't agree with you, shouldn't he feel the same? Then again, he hasn't had to go through what you've gone through. Your mother's tales of bullying at Hogwarts. Your own experiences of people cutting her off when they find out she's muggle-born, that she can't help them with family connections. That's why they don't belong in places like Hogwarts. You believe there should be a separate school, just for muggle-borns. Where the pure-bloods can't hurt them.  
You and Draco chat for a bit as the sun fades, but Crabbe and Goyle, saying nothing, staring, make you uneasy. You feel the train begin to slow down, and you decide to change into your robes. You love your robes, you feel like a proper wizard in them. Before, the only people you'd seen in robes were your father and his colleagues. Now you could almost be a ministry worker. Although, you reflect, that doesn't sound that great.  
Draco looks especially proud of himself - smug would perhaps be a better word - in his new robes. He keeps smoothing down the front and playing with the sleeves.  
The train continues to slow down, until it comes to a stop at a station that proclaims itself to be Hogsmeade station. You look around, and it looks like you're in the middle of nowhere. You venture outside the train with caution like all the other first years, avoiding the loud and confident older years. The air is bitterly cold and you draw your cloak closer around yourself.  
You hear a deep, deafening voice coming from the other side of the platform.  
"Firs' years! Firs' years this way!"  
The source of the noise is a terrifying giant who towers over you, his face almost completely covered by beard. He waves you along with the stream of other nervous children, all the while shouting his deafening call.  
He finds you not long after next to a wide, dark lake on which float some rickety-looking boats.  
"Righ', four ter a boat. Don' lean over the side, or the squid'll get yer."  
He chuckles, but you don't feel like laughing. In the light of day it might seem preposterous, but here by the misty lake the prospect of a giant quid beneath you seems all too real.  
The four of you clamber into a little boat and you try not to look as Harry, Seamus, Dean and Ron board another. The ride is surprisingly smooth, but you daren't look over the side into the deep water beneath you. The group of boats turn a corner and you are met with your first view of Hogwarts castle.  
"Wow," you breathe, although you're not the only one. The castle is everything you imagined, it looks like a fairy tale castle but also imbued with some indescribable... magic. You don't know how they've lit it up so perfectly but you decide not to care.  
The giant ushers you into a hall where you are met by a very stern-looking lady in green robes. Any words you might have been about to say, possibly about the relief that this warmth is after what's outside, are immediately swallowed in your throat.  
"Welcome to Hogwarts," she says, "the start-of-term feast will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the great hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with your house, sleep in your house dormitory and spend free time in your house common-room. The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule-breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honour. I hope each of you will become a credit to whichever house becomes yours. The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting."  
Draco grins and smooths back his hair, and you attempt to get a spot of mud, presumably from the lake, off your nice new robe. You notice Neville and Hermione, a little too far away to talk to them, and notice Neville is holding a brown toad. You're glad they finally found one another again.  
"I shall return when we are ready for you," the woman continued, "please wait quietly." She left the chamber with a swish of her robe.

Continue to the sorting.

Back to the last chapter

BACK TO RON

"Well, I've got this friend Ron. He's in a compartment down the corridor, we could see him," you suggest hopefully.  
Draco brightens up a little. "Yeah, good idea. Let's go see Ron."  
Ron is sitting alone in the compartment, playing with Scabbers, when you enter. Draco frowns when he sees the tall red-headed boy but says nothing.  
"Nick! Hi! Where's Harry?"  
You shift awkwardly. "He's sitting somewhere else."  
"Oh," Ron frowns. "Right." For a moment he looks like he's going to say something else, but obviously thinks better of it.  
"This is Draco, by the way. I, erm, met him while we were looking for Trevor."  
"Trevor?"  
"The toad."  
"Oh, right. Nice to meet you. Did you find the toad, by the way?"  
You and Draco shake your heads sadly. Poor, lost Trevor.  
Draco looks at Ron, narrowing his eyes. "What's your surname?"  
"Weasley. Why?"  
"Huh. I thought so."  
"Excuse me?"  
"No, it's just... red hair, robes from about a hundred years ago. I'm not surprised, is all."  
"What? Well what's your surname then?"  
He smiles, like his surname is his trump card. "Malfoy."  
Ron frowns. "Yeah, I think I've heard of your dad. Your little blood-purist family."  
"You say that like it's a bad thing."  
"You can't - Nick, back me up here."  
"Come on Nick. You know where your loyalty lies."  
You pause. Draco said earlier that he believes in what you believe, but you're not sure if he does. Not really. And Ron seems so nice, even if he believes... who do you choose?

Draco  
Ron

Back to the last chapter

I CHOOSE DRACO

"Sorry Ron," you say, and stand up to join Draco. "Draco, I think we should go."  
"Yeah, it was a mistake coming here." He sneers. You look away, embarrassed, and wish you could just leave. You're not even a day into your life at Hogwarts and already you've made more enemies than you've had in the rest of your life.  
You drag Draco away from the compartment and sigh.  
"Where do we go now? We have to go somewhere, and there's no free compartments."  
"I guess we have to go back to Crabbe and Goyle. There's nowhere else."  
You look around, searching for another option, but have to concede there isn't one. Not really. You wonder if all your school life is going to be like this. At least you have Draco by your side.

Go to Crabbe and Goyle.

Back to the last chapter

HOGSMEADE STATION

"Sorry Draco," you say, and turn to face him, "I think you should go."  
"I thought we were on the same page!"  
"Yeah," you reply, "so did I."  
He leaves, muttering something under his breath. Ron looks nervous, but happy.  
"Thanks, Nick."  
"No problem."  
You and Ron chat for a bit as the sun fades, before you feel the train begin to slow down, and you decide to change into your robes. You love your robes, you feel like a proper wizard in them. Before, the only people you'd seen in robes were your father and his colleagues. Now you could almost be a ministry worker. Although, you reflect, that doesn't sound that great.  
Ron looks at his frayed sleeves with some amount of despair, but you try not to notice.  
The train continues to slow down, until it comes to a stop at a station that proclaims itself to be Hogsmeade station. You look around, and it looks like you're in the middle of nowhere. You venture outside the train with caution like all the other first years, avoiding the loud and confident older years. The air is bitterly cold and you draw your cloak closer around yourself.  
You hear a deep, deafening voice coming from the other side of the platform.  
"Firs' years! Firs' years this way!"  
The source of the noise is a terrifying giant who towers over you, his face almost completely covered by beard. He waves you along with the stream of other nervous children, all the while shouting his deafening call.  
He finds you not long after next to a wide, dark lake on which float some rickety-looking boats.  
"Righ', four ter a boat. Don' lean over the side, or the squid'll get yer."  
He chuckles, but you don't feel like laughing. In the light of day it might seem preposterous, but here by the misty lake the prospect of a giant quid beneath you seems all too real.  
You clamber into a little boat with Ron and two boys who introduce themselves as Anthony and Michael, and you try not to look as Harry, Seamus, Dean and a dark-haired girl board another. The ride is surprisingly smooth, but you daren't look over the side into the deep water beneath you. The group of boats turn a corner and you are met with your first view of Hogwarts castle.  
"Wow," you breathe, although you're not the only one. The castle is everything you imagined, it looks like a fairy tale castle but also imbued with some indescribable... magic. You don't know how they've lit it up so perfectly but you decide not to care.  
The giant ushers you into a hall where you are met by a very stern-looking lady in green robes. Any words you might have been about to say, possibly about the relief that this warmth is after what's outside, are immediately swallowed in your throat.  
"Welcome to Hogwarts," she says, "the start-of-term feast will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the great hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with your house, sleep in your house dormitory and spend free time in your house common-room. The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule-breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honour. I hope each of you will become a credit to whichever house becomes yours. The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting."  
Ron quails under the woman's stare, and you attempt to get a spot of mud, presumably from the lake, off your nice new robe. You notice Neville and Hermione, a little too far away to talk to them, and notice Neville is holding a brown toad. You're glad they finally found one another again.  
"I shall return when we are ready for you," the woman continued, "please wait quietly." She left the chamber with a swish of her robe.

Continue to the Sorting

Back to the last chapter


End file.
